Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy) (AFP)
The Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr, already crowned Thursday in the super-G, on Sunday won the downhill of the alpine skiing world championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy), ahead of the German Andreas Sander by just one hundredth.
With this double in downhill and super-G, Kriechmayr matches the exploits of his compatriot Hermann Maier at Vail in 1999 and of the American Bode Miller at Bormio in 2005. During the previous edition of the world championships in 2019 in Are ( Sweden), the 29-year-old Linz native took silver in super-G and bronze in downhill.
Ninth in the super-G on Thursday, Sander, 31, claimed his first world championship medal.
Leader of the World Cup classification in the specialty, the Swiss Beat Feuz finished in third place, 18/100 behind Kriechmayr, who started first with the number 1.
Italy's Dominik Paris and Switzerland's Marco Odermatt tied for fourth, 65/100 behind the winner, while Austrian Matthias Mayer, second in the World Cup downhill, retired.
On the French side, Niels Allègre achieved a good performance, seventh at 97/100 behind Kriechmayr.
"It's my best place in the downhill, it's not a medal (...) but it's positive for me," said the 27-year-old skier.
Pessimistic before the race, veteran Johan Clarey, 40, confirmed his bad feelings on the Dolomites track by finishing in 16th position.
Matthieu Bailet, who had great ambitions, was also missed, nearly two and a half seconds behind Kriechmayr.
Maxence Muzaton fell quickly but, even if he was hit in both knees, the Habs probably avoided the worst, thanks to an involuntary 180-degree figure that allowed him a miraculous recovery upside down on his skis. .
German Romed Baumann, second in the Super-G on Thursday, also fell after crossing the finish line and embedded himself in the protective bags, before being extracted and getting up with a bloody nose .
© 2021 AFP